LL2 : Chapter 2. You Always Do As You Please

One week later, Mai Ding finally received a notice from an internship unit. It was needless to say how happy he was, but only two seconds later, he calmed down. He just started running into luck. He did not expect to find it so soon, but if he would go, that would also mean that he could not go to school with An Ziyan. He could not sit next to him and oversee his lectures. Would An Ziyan oversleep and be late again? If An Ziyan did not bring his textbook, who could lend it to him? Life did not always go according to the way that Mai Ding planned it would be. He had to step in advance into the next stage of growth, and An Ziyan seemed to be planning to stay.

Even if they were married, Mai Ding felt that he had no right to interfere with An Ziyan’s choices, and could not force him by saying: “You must be like me.” If Mai Ding did that, An Ziyan would just promise him even though he would not like to agree. Mai Ding was well aware of it, just as he knew it from the time when he dragged the reluctant An Ziyan to the cafeteria or supermarket; but he did not want to do this now, since this was not the cafeteria or the supermarket.

Should I or should I not go? Mai Ding did not want to find an excellent reason for himself. If he had to sacrifice An Ziyan for this, then he would rather not want to leave An Ziyan. Mai Ding hid his own entanglement, held an off-campus internship application form, and trembled in front of An Ziyan, then he put on a study committee member’s proud look: “Comrade, what do you think? This is astounding. This precious child would shine after all. I didn’t expect that there’d be a day like this for me. Haha, the Goddess of Fortune’s radiance has shone on me.” An Ziyan grabbed the application form and crumpled it into a ball, then he threw it away: “Eyesore.”

Mai Ding immediately picked up the application form, then he carefully smoothed it out: “You must be jealous inside because I lead a better life than you, so you flew into a fit of rage out of shame.”

“Don’t put my name with your name. It’s an insult to my name.”

“Today, whatever you say can’t dampen me!”

“Really?” An Ziyan’s tone had deep meaning. He measured Mai Ding with his eyes. The ‘Defense Against An Ziyan’s Bullying System’ that Mai Ding had developed all these years issued a warning, so he opened up a topic in advance to dodge what An Ziyan wanted to say next: “However, if I go to the internship, you‘ll feel lonely in school. You can tell me what you feel. I might stay to accompany you,” Mai Ding said as if he was sounding An Ziyan out.

“I suggest that you go to the hospital to get your brain checked first before going to the internship. Who’s the one who was making a noise about going to work a few days ago?”

“But getting it like this and being not satisfied is different. I, I’m not..” Mai Ding had not finished his sentence yet, but An Ziyan quickly stopped him: “There’s no need for you to tell me what you’re going to say next. I already know,” An Ziyan’s ‘Defense Against Mai Ding’s Sappiness System’ was also alerted.

Mai Ding bowed his head. He was not good in keeping something hidden from others. His tangled emotions were still very easy to read. This guy never talked about things seriously. Between the two of them, it was only An Ziyan who considered important matters as particularly laughable.

An Ziyan raised Mai Ding’s face with the pen in his hand: “You, what’s that expression on your face?”

“In any case, it’s not a happy expression.”

“Hey, I don’t understand why you‘ve been entangled in this problem with your IQ of a 5-to-10-year-old kid,” When he heard An Ziyan say this, Mai Ding was about to get angry but An Ziyan spoke again: “This is like your entanglement before when you were elected to become a Study Committee member, we were still able to take our honeymoon. The place where you’re going for the internship isn’t Africa. You’ll go home after work. Previously, didn’t we also live like that when we’re not in the same school?”

“Why is it that every time you say it, I really think that my IQ is only within a 5-to-10-year-old kid range?!” Mai Ding, who was easily convinced, thought that An Ziyan was very reasonable. He always saw things directly and simply.

“That’s good. I can shorten the time being played in between the palm of your hands.”

“I was obviously being very considerate.”

“Psh! Your way of being considerate is very confusing.”

“In order to avoid hurting you, I said that your IQ was that of a 5-to-10-year-old kid but I was actually going to say that your IQ was that of a 1-to-3-year-old kid.”

He was going to the interview tomorrow. Mai Ding was nervous and could not sleep as he lied in bed. He would make a long sigh every few minutes. What clothes would be appropriate to wear tomorrow? What would be the right things to say? Would he write the information on the resume too casually or not? When he thought of these questions, he suddenly sat up. He jumped out of bed and took out the resume in his bag, then he jumped back to the bed. He should not forget that he was still sleeping with another bad-tempered person in the same bed. The sound of the bed from time to time finally made An Ziyan frown: “You…” After he said this word, Mai Ding took the lead: “You’re not yet asleep. Are you worried about me?”

“Don’t randomly fantasize.”

“You can also help me look at my resume. In the self-evaluation column, I always feel unsatisfied. I’ll read it to you. I have a positive attitude towards life and a wide range of interests and hobbies. I believe in good character of integrity, tenacity and tolerance. I love learning, have the courage to explore, and like challenging work. I will use my meager contribution to prop up a bright future, I will…”

“You’re going to die tonight,” An Ziyan, who was at the end of his patience, covered Mai Ding’s face with a pillow. Mai Ding waived his hands around and finally, a vague voice came through from under the pillow: “I, I’m wrong.” An Ziyan let him go and turned off the light: “Give me some sleep.”

“I can’t sleep. You don’t care about me at all.” An Ziyan dragged Mai Ding into his arms and let Mai Ding rest his head on An Ziyan’s arm: “In that case, let me take care of you. How about if I tell you a story?” A trap, it was definitely a trap! That story of the unicorn that An Ziyan told him before when Mai Ding could not sleep was still vivid in his mind.

Mai Ding pretended to yawn: “I’m already sleepy.” After saying that, he inclined his head to one side and pretended to be dead sleep. There was no buffer time in the middle.

Early in the morning, when the sky was not yet bright, Mai Ding got up. He patted his cheeks in the bathroom, squeezed the toothpaste on his toothbrush, and brushed it hard in his mouth. When he finished getting ready and walked out of the bathroom, he saw An Ziyan, who already got out of the bed. He… He actually got out of the bed!

Mai Ding wasted a lot of saliva almost every morning, screaming at him, scolding him, and begging him to get up, but he was indifferent.

When An Ziyan walked over to Mai Ding’s side, he reached out and helped Mai Ding close his mouth that was open due to his surprise. Mai Ding’s eyes followed An Ziyan’s figure and asked: “Why did you get up early?”

“It’s none of your business,” there was fierceness in An Ziyan’s answer.

Mai Ding had no time to be surprised again. He changed his clothes, took a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. He chugged a glass of milk to push the bread that was stuck in his throat down and went to the front door. Just when he wanted to talk to An Ziyan, An Ziyan, who had also changed his clothes and was holding the resume that Mai Ding left on the bed last night, knocked Mai Ding on the head.

“Are you going out, too?” Mai Ding asked. He gratefully put his resume into the bag and looked at An Ziyan who was putting on his shoes.

“It’s none of your business,” Again, An Ziyan’s response was even fiercer.

Only then did the slow Mai Ding react, was An Ziyan planning to accompany him? However, Mai Ding had never seen anyone who showed consideration with such a violent expression!

An Ziyan was extremely annoyed getting up early. He opened the door and went out first. What could he do? He looked at Mai Ding. This guy would end up making things worse every time he was nervous.

“Still not going?”

Mai Ding unhappily pouted: “Why do you need to be so fierce?!” He turned around and rushed toward An Ziyan. Because he could not help it, the smile that gradually emerged on his lips soon betrayed him.

There was no comforting and encouraging words along the way. There was nothing at all. His mouth had nothing good to say. However, there was An Ziyan accompanying him by his side, whom eased up Mai Ding’s nervousness.

While standing under the building, Mai Ding took a deep breath. He knew that An Ziyan could only accompany him up to here and that he could not rely too much on An Ziyan. If a person was wholly attached to another person, that was no longer considered in the category of love. They would only appear cowardly and insecure, not only now, because there would be many things that they would need to do to grow on their own in the future.

Mai Ding was very positive in his mind, but his actions told him otherwise. Just when he was about to take a step into the company, he turned away and run to a corner outside the building. An Ziyan put his hands in his trouser pockets and watched him come back and forth. In the end, he went to Mai Ding in the corner: “What are you doing?”

“Let me breathe a few more times.”

“Sucking all of the Earth’s oxygen is useless. You’re very unlucky.”

Mai Ding held his head: “You don’t need to say it. I already know that. You’re the type of person who could get a good result even when you’re just casually taking the exam and have the looks that make people envious of. How can you understand the sorrows of an ordinary person like me? Lucky guy.”

When Mai Ding was muttering, An Ziyan took out one of his hands from his pocket and grabbed Mai Ding by his collar: “I’m giving you some of my luck, bad luck guy.” His voice was low and his kiss conveniently came over. With just a gentle cover, Mai Ding’s mind was swept off.

He did as he pleased again. No matter how many times Mai Ding had warned him, he always did not listen. Fortunately, An Ziyan always did not listen.